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"Some of the following resources (particularly the articles) offer devastating criticism about PowerPoint. Some of the authors believe that PowerPoint is the worst thing ever created and that it's just a high-tech projection tool used as a quick replacement for more thoughtful presentations. Other authors advocate the usage of PowerPoint, focusing on its rich visual nature and its role as an educational and informational tool. Whether you love, hate, or don't care about PowerPoint, this computer software is here to stay. The following resources explore the dos and don'ts of using PowerPoint."

"Ok, I'm a freak. I admit it. I don't use PowerPoint for teaching. Well, hardly ever. Once or twice a semester. Around my institution-and across the country-that puts me in the tiny minority. I know this because my students find it unusual enough to comment on. (Update: Since I wrote this, PowerPoint use in the classroom appears to be on the decline, at least at my institution. Hooray!) Why do I take this heretical position? Part of it is that PowerPoint doesn't mesh well with my personal teaching style. But mostly it's because PowerPoint is just too hard for me. Oh, not making slides. That part's easy. I mean that creating a PowerPoint presentation that effectively supports my goals in the classroom is too hard. It's way too much work. Some people can-I tip my hat to them-but me? I'm just not good enough to do that."

"Actually I've been quietly doing something for years: I've been declining to learn how to use the ubiquitous piece of software. As a presenter, I'm a PowerPoint virgin, though as an audience member I've been gang raped by PowerPoint slides more times than I can count. And what have I got from the experience? It is hard to say because my default reaction has been to blank it. I can't remember one single slide that I've ever been shown. And as I must have been shown hundreds of thousands of them altogether, a hit rate of zero seems rather on the low side. This doesn't mean I've never sat through a good PowerPoint presentation. But when I have, it has been because the person speaking managed to get a message across despite the distracting visual clamour going on behind them."

" In it, a Dean at SMU announces his plan to require teachers to "teach naked" by banning computers from his classroom.  (The video above is an interview with Dean Bowen. )  Research cited here includes this nuggett: "59 percent of students in a new survey reported that at least half of their lectures were boring, and that PowerPoint was one of the dullest methods they saw."  No argument here.  Bowen is admirably passionate that classtime be used for more active student learning: questioning, discussing, debating ideas with their professors."

"So here's a pedagogical aid that certainly has many pluses to it in adding color to lectures with videos, photos, audios, and yes, bullet points that can give a huge lift to dry presentations. Yet the trade-offs in getting students and policymakers to think through issues and come to grips with messy problems are substantial, according to critics."

In case you ever have to make a printed poster presentation out of your research projects.

You might wanna check TED for educational news!

Have you seen http://ed.ted.com/ - there are a number of examples of how TED content has been created especially for educational purposes.